


Peppermint Traditions

by CatrinaSL



Series: Three Things [16]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Agatha Christie - Freeform, Agatha Christie Novel, Agatha Christie References, Background Jane/Thor, Background characters - Freeform, Christmas Tree, Christmas traditions, F/M, First Kiss, Hot Chocolate, Kissing, Peppermint, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Three Things, Traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 15:30:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13079880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatrinaSL/pseuds/CatrinaSL
Summary: Darcy's got her Christmastime Traditions down pat... until Logan shows up at her door.





	Peppermint Traditions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lady_Layla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Layla/gifts).



> Lady_Layla prompted Agatha Christie Novel, Christmas Tree, Something peppermint scented.

Darcy sighed happily as she put the last ornament on her tree and plugged the lights in. It was five days before Christmas, and she was _finally_ ready.

She grabbed her hot chocolate and set it under the tree, then tugged the throw off the couch and rolled up in it, getting comfortable on her stomach on the floor beneath the boughs. Taking a sip of the hot chocolate, she sighed again, content in her Christmastime traditions. She cracked open _The Mysterious Mr. Quin_ and was lost in a swirl of drama and suspicion.

And then the doorbell rang.

Darcy glanced at the clock; too late for visitors and too early for Santa.

She stood and inspected the peep hole.

An annoyed man stood on the other side of the door. Darcy _could_ have pretended like she wasn't home... if the porch light was off and she hadn't plugged in the lights on her reindeer with the sparkly antlers.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she called.

He looked up, right at the peep hole. Darcy jumped, but watched as he shifted his weight and scowled. "Logan," he told her. "Steve Rogers said I might be able to crash here. He told me to say, 'feel free to do what you have to do if he freaks you out,' whatever the hell that means." The last bit was growled under his breath, but Darcy heard it anyway.

"Hold please," Darcy said, and stepped over to snag her phone off the coffee table. She sent Steve a quick text.

Who is Logan?

Oh, good. He got there all right.

I'm sorry, Darcy, but would mind hosting him for a few days?

He's not being pursued or anything, but he needs a place to lay low.

We should be able to stop by for an extraction later this week

How much later???

It took Steve a few minutes to reply again, during which Darcy watched Logan shift his weight around, glare at her through the peep hole, and keep an eye on any cars driving down the street.

We'll try to have him out before Christmas

We don't want to ruin your holiday

She sighed, exasperated. And then, a final text from Steve:

Thank you for this, Darcy.

Darcy pulled the door open and looked Logan over. "Your story checks out," she told him. "Welcome to Casa de Lewis. House rules: take your boots off before you walk across the carpet. Don't put your feet on the coffee table. Don't leave your laundry for someone else to pick up."

Logan gave her a once-over during her recital, and when she was finished, he said, "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Darcy told him. "Don't bother me right now, I'm right in the middle of a murder case."

"Right," her uninvited guest agreed warily as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

Darcy got back to her book as Logan took off his boots, and she was just getting to the good part when he sat down on the couch (no feet on the coffee table or anything!). By the time she was finished with the story, Logan had passed out, his head tilted onto the back of the couch as he snored slightly.

She tiptoed to the linen closet so as not to wake him, and brought back a pillow and a pile of blankets, which she plopped onto the couch next to him. Then she retreated to her bedroom and locked the door behind her. Sure, Steve had said that Logan was safe, but he had also warned her to defend herself if she felt it was necessary. Darcy fell asleep curled around her taser.

The next morning, the only sign that there had been anyone aside from her in the house the previous evening was the stack of linen on top of the washing machine, folded neatly; the toilet seat, which had been left up; and a note that said, "Thanks for the hospitality, kid." It was signed with a single L, and there was a York Peppermint Patty sitting on top of it.

Darcy did the laundry, set the bathroom to rights, and ate the candy, wondering if the previous evening had all been a dream.

* * *

 Darcy had completely forgotten about Logan until she saw him walking toward her at Tony's party.

She almost hadn't gone, but Jane was going to be there, and she hadn't seen the Avengers for what felt like forever. She decided to put off her private holiday 'hot chocolate and a good mystery' plans that year to squeeze herself into a slinky dress and make an appearance at Tony Stark's party. An hour would suffice, and then she’d head back to her room, where _Murder is Easy_ was waiting for her.

Logan walked right up to her, smiled, and asked her to dance. She wouldn't have believed that he was the same surly guy who fell asleep on her couch the year before if he hadn't looked exactly the same.

"How's Casa de Lewis?" he asked.

"Mostly unchanged," Darcy told him. "But we've updated the rules: put the toilet seat down when you're finished using the bathroom."

Logan nodded, seeming to agree. "Every house should have that rule," he said.

"I just didn't ever think I was going to have to state it explicitly. It's kind of common courtesy to put the seat down."

He winked at her as he spun her. "I won't forget," he said, and snagged a candy cane off the tree next to the dance floor as he led her off of it, presenting it to her with a grin. "See you around, kid."

* * *

Jane's mini-tree and her kindle wasn't the same as being at home, but the Avengers were kerfuffling, so they wanted everyone close, just in case. And Darcy would take hot chocolate and Agatha Christie in Avengers Tower over being kidnapped, where she would likely only have water to drink (if she was lucky) and zero access to mystery novels of any kind.

Darcy had had to go out and buy the tree ( _and_ the hot chocolate; honestly, Jane needed a non-science assistant again), and everything was as close as she could get it.

"Darce?" Jane said, shutting the bedroom door on a snoring Thor. "I'm gonna go to the lab... you okay out here?"

"Jane Elizabeth Foster, you should be sleeping; it is 2 am."

"That's not my middle name," Jane told her with a smile. "And this is usually when I get up. I'll take a nap in the lab around—"

"9," Darcy finished for her. "I know. Don't die without me."

"I haven't yet," Jane said, and grabbed her sweater off the couch before heading out.

When the door opened again 3 minutes later, Darcy looked up, expecting Jane (maybe she forgot her coffee cup or changed her mind about her sleep habits), but it wasn't.

It was Logan.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, baffled.

"Avenger stuff," he said. "Got some downtime. What are you reading?"

Darcy shrugged. "The usual," she told him. " _Death Comes at the End_."

"The title kinda gives it away, doesn't it?"

She smiled and looked up at him. "Are you just here to distract me from my Christmas traditions?" she asked.

"Nah," he replied, and pulled something—a little bottle—out of his jacket and held it out to her. "Thought you'd like this."

"Peppermint schnapps?" Darcy asked, examining the tiny label.

"For your hot chocolate," he said with a lazy smile. "Think Doctor Foster would mind me passing out take a nap on the couch for the next couple hours?"

Darcy shook her head, bemused. Logan _did_ pass out on the couch. And Darcy added the shot of alcohol to her hot chocolate.

* * *

Christmas wasn't a thing on Asgard, but it was in Darcy's... room? apartment? quarters? ridiculously opulent general vicinity?

Christmas was a thing in Darcy's Asgardian Kingdom. Fandral and Volstagg brought her boughs of a tree that was a reasonable approximation of a spruce, and Frigga smiled and played along when Darcy asked her to make sparkly lights appear there. Asgard had the best hot chocolate in the entire universe, so she was covered there. She spent the evening telling a baffled Sif, Hogun, and Heimdall the general plot to _Murder on the Orient Express_ , and everything was perfect.

Mostly.

Then Thor tore himself away from Jane for two seconds to apologize to Darcy. "I was meant to give this to you today, but with the wedding..."

"It's fine," Darcy told him, more curious than anything else. "What is it?"

Thor presented a box of Girl Scout cookies.

Thin Mints.

There was a note on the box. "Have a good time this year, kid. Come back safe. —L"

"Thanks, Thor," Darcy said with a smile.

"You are welcome, Darcy," he told her, fidgeting. "I should get back to my bride..."

"Go." She shooed him away and opened the box.

The cookies were half gone.

* * *

Darcy sighed happily as she put the last ornament on her tree and plugged the lights in. It was _so_ good to finally be home to enjoy her Christmastime traditions, for once.

She grabbed her hot chocolate and set it under the tree, then tugged the throw off the couch and rolled up in it, getting comfortable on her stomach on the floor beneath the boughs. Taking a sip of the hot chocolate, she sighed again.

But something wasn't quite right.

 _Murder in the Mews_ was there in front of her, waiting to be read, but that wasn't what was off... it was something else.

It was midnight before she realized.

She grabbed her purse and put on the peppermint lip gloss Jane had given her several weeks before and made another cup of hot chocolate.

And then she sat down under her Christmas tree to wait.

Darcy woke to a knock at the door. Glancing at the clock, she nodded; right on time: too late for visitors and too early for Santa.

"Hey, kid. Sorry I'm late," he said when she opened the door.

"Had to get my peppermint without you," she told him, pointing to her lips.

"Yeah?" His eyes lingered there. "Now all you need is me."

Darcy rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway. "And here you are. I guess you're part of my Christmastime tradition now."

"Guess I am," he agreed.

They stood for a minute at the door; Darcy wasn't sure if he was planning on coming in or…?

"So should I get you a couple of blankets for the couch? I—"

Logan stepped inside, caught her wrist, and tugged her toward him with the same motion.

And then he was kissing her.

Logan and peppermint. It would never be Christmas for Darcy without them.

**Author's Note:**

> [Prompt a Three Things fic!](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf7S2MbkK0CxVHMG3kF8CD6fYqD0zwY-J6MqLb21nmFyRpE4w/viewform)
> 
> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/168759124268/peppermint-traditions)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


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